Huis

Inspired by the British prog of the 70s and a taste for clock-stretching music, the French-Canadians put a premium on having fun.

“It’s the Dutch word for ‘house’, but every time we play there, people say we don’t pronounce it properly!” laughs Huis guitarist Michel St-Père as he explains the name and formation of the French-Canadian neo-proggers. Formed in 2009 by bassist Michel Doncas and then-keyboard player Pascal la Pierre after the pair were invited on stage in Amsterdam by Dutch prog band Knight Area, the band went through a number of personnel changes before singer Sylvain Descôteaux, keyboard player Johnny Maz, drummer William Régnier – then Martin Plante – got together with Doncas and late addition St-Père.

Over the course of four albums – //Despite Guardian Angels// (2014), //Neither In Heaven// (2016), //Abandoned (2019) and //In The Face Of The Unkown// (2024) – Huis have developed a signature sound that embraces a symphonic approach with epic running times.

“Every member who writes a song pretty much delivers it finished,” says St-Père of Huis’ compositional approach. “So we have the skeleton of the song and we then recorded out parts in our own studios.” He adds, “The band is more confident now. For the first album, Michel Joncas wrote most of the material but over the years, the other members contributed to the songwriting. But the essence of Huis is still the same as it’s always been – it’s five guys having fun playing progressive rock music and it really is magical.”

The band took to recording their parts remotely after the global lockdown forced their hand as they released a series of cover versions of songs by Rush, Asia, Arena, Deep Purple and Saga to keep the band going. And this is where Huis could be headed with their next release, as well as taking stock of where they’ve got to so far. “Right now, we’re planning on releasing all the covers we recorded during the pandemic,” reveals St-Père. “We’ve also got some concerts coming up in Quebec towards the end of the year, so we’re thinking that we should record them for a live album.”

All of which raises the question as to where Huis feel most comfortable – the studio or the stage? “Both places. It’s a creative project and when do play live, we make the most of it. It’s a fun band.” And that fun is palpable wherever they are. JM

Sign off: See www.huisband.com for more information.